"It's impossible, it's impossible."
Yuki-chan repeated those words like a mantra while looking at me as if I were her mortal enemy. It was safe to say she had made a full recovery. Her attack power was on a level incomparable to before. Who could possibly change her now? She had used me as a mysterious negative example to deepen her brotherly love.
I decided to leave the rest to the PTA or the FBI.
To further appease her, I dragged Yuki-chan to our class with the help of Ichinose-san and Sasaki-san. Though she showed resistance at first, once I hinted at Sasaki’s presence, she became as quiet as a housecat in a new home. "H-Hmph! It's not like I'm following you because you invited me, Sajou-san!" she huffed, transforming into a textbook adolescent girl who couldn't be honest with herself. It was strange... her words were tsundere, but I felt absolutely zero affection behind them.
The moment she spotted Shepherd Sasaki through the classroom window, Yuki-chan let out a breathless squeal of delight. She pulled a selfie stick out from God knows where and proceeded to capture Sasaki from every conceivable angle, essentially imprisoning him within her smartphone. Her intensity was so overwhelming that we were forced to pretend we didn't know her, and at last, we released Yuki-chan. I vowed in my heart never to catch her again. Sasaki’s bitter expression upon realizing his sister was there served as the perfect accent to this series of events.
"It’s gotten pretty late... What should we do? Sasaki-san, do you want to participate in anything else?"
"No, I think... I'll pass..."
When I asked Sasaki-san about joining the riddle contest, she didn't seem very enthusiastic. This was coming from the same girl who usually found joy in everything. It looked like she was in a daze, unable to reconcile the Yuki-chan she knew at middle school with the whirlwind we had just witnessed. On the other hand, Ichinose-san stood beside her as if nothing had happened. I suspected she had already purged the last hour from her memory. What a magnificent defense mechanism. It really was a nasty incident, wasn't it...?
"Let's rest for a bit." Our eyes met, and we all reached the same silent conclusion.
◆
The classroom next door had been turned into a rest area. Benches had been brought in and lined up neatly; only two students from Class B were standing over in the corner. While the official rest areas were the cafeteria and the central courtyard, those places were packed, making this room a much more relaxing choice. In a sense, this was the smartest way to spend the day. Since they weren't hosting an exhibit, most of the students in this class could fully enjoy the cultural festival. Honestly, shouldn't the first-years just do this every year?
I sat down heavily in the middle of an empty bench next to the two girls, who were now holding juices.
"So? Did you enjoy the cultural festival?"
"Eh, ah, yes...!"
"..."
I really had some nerve asking that. While I was plagued by a guilty conscience toward Sasaki-san, she gave me an incredibly mature response. I had forced a JC who looked like a college student to act like the only adult in the room. I’m certain I won't be going to heaven when I die. However, the thing with the highest attack power was the stark stare Ichinose-san was giving me. I’m sorry; it was a hundred years too early for me to be putting on airs as a senior.
I cleared my throat to cover my embarrassment and apologized properly.
"Sorry... I only managed to show you a few places. We even ended up at that weird spot behind the school at the end."
"No, no! I had plenty of fun! Besides, I got to see the grounds and the gymnasium while we were looking for Yuki-chan!"
Wait, really...? You searched that far...? Her search radius was overwhelmingly wider than mine...
I felt dejected, having failed to save face as a senior or a man. All I could do now was treat them to juice from the vending machine. Under normal circumstances, we could have leisurely toured the gymnasium and the other sights... Yuki-chan is technically a junior to me as well, so a real senior should have been able to keep her under control... instead, I just released her.
"—Besides, I was able to reconfirm that Sajou-senpai and Mina-senpai are here."
"..."
My heart skipped a beat. Wow, this girl is way too kind...
I seriously couldn't believe she was a middle schooler. She hadn't been fed some secret drug that made her look like a child while her brain remained an adult, had she? No, wait, thinking about it calmly, she looked like an adult too. She was mature in both body and soul. Why was she even in middle school? Why did she keep making it so hard for me to give up on the idea that she was a college student?
Ichinose-san was also looking at Sasaki-san with an entranced expression. She looked like she wanted her as a little sister. She might even become a replacement for Kuma-san-senpai.
"Please, by all means, enroll in our school..."
"Eh...?! Y-Yes!"
She was the "Best of the Year" for juniors I wanted.
On behalf of the seniors of Kouetsu High and the festival organizers, I offered those words from the bottom of my heart. If I were the principal and Sasaki-san chose a different school, I’d go to the board to demand a formal inquiry. I’d even be prepared to sit down and persuade her parents.
"Please... come to the secondhand bookstore as well..."
"Eh? W-Who, me? A part-time job?!"
That was an unexpected pitch from Ichinose-san. Her voice as she bowed and made the request carried a note of genuine desperation. Perhaps working the job alone really was lonely for her. My heart twinged... I had ended up leaving her on her own, after all. She might not have been joking.
In the first place, it was rare for Ichinose-san to take the initiative like that. I felt a surge of paternal pride, thinking how wonderful it was that she’d found a junior she liked. But staying near these two caused two conflicting emotions to clash within me. Someone help... paternal instincts and babummi were attacking me in waves...
Sasaki-san is a middle schooler... Sasaki-san is a middle schooler...
I focused on my self-suggestion, telling myself I had to do something about the one with the crazy tendencies while keeping my sanity by visualizing her actual age floating over Sasaki-san's head. Just as I achieved a state of enlightenment, I noticed the clock above the blackboard.
◆
I saw Sasaki-san off at the school gate, watching the stream of people heading home. The way she acted as if she were leaving a theme park, clinging to Ichinose-san and whimpering, "I don't want to go home..." was gentle on my SAN points. Thank you; because of that, I can still see you as a middle schooler.
"Come back whenever you want. It's fine; if it's you, Sasaki-san, no one will ever know."
"T-That’s not right..."
Apparently, I was just as reluctant to say goodbye. I had naturally started leading Sasaki-san down the path of delinquency. It seemed my sense of ethics was crumbling after spending too much time with Yuki-chan. I even received my first-ever retort from Ichinose-san.
"I will... I will definitely pass the exam for Kouetsu!"
Seeing the determination in Sasaki-san's eyes, I couldn't imagine a future where she didn't enroll in this school. She seemed to be studying hard, so there was no way she would fail. I didn't feel like a simple "Good luck" was even necessary. I just needed to stand firm as her senior—though I might actually cry if she wasn't here next year.
"Well then, take ca—"
"Aaaah—?! Found you!!"
"...?!"
"Eh...?"
Just as I was about to send her off before dark, a shadow came charging at us at a full sprint. It was Ashida in her volleyball club uniform. Despite screaming as if she had finally found us after a desperate search, her face looked strangely joyful. When her eyes met mine, she leapt straight toward me—Wait, why?!
"Yay!!"
"Uwooooh?!"
I barely managed to catch the bullet tackle that was practically a suspendable offense. Carried by the momentum, we veered off the stone pavement by the gate and I managed to skid to a halt on the gravel path. I had caught her without a second thought about her being a girl, but Ashida didn't seem to care. She’d even had the cheek to cross her arms and guard her chest... Unbelievable.
"Hey, Ashida...! What was that for all of a sud—"
"Yay!!"
"Hyuuh?!"
Sunshine Ashida popped out of my arms and immediately threw them around Ichinose-san. Faced with a back-hug that had far too much momentum, the interpersonal skills Ichinose-san had worked so hard to polish were rendered completely useless.
—Ashida x Ichinose-san, huh...?
I was shaken by the sudden occurrence of a new pairing event. My Yuri Sensor was pinging with everything it had. All sorts of theories about a combination I had never even considered raced through my head. Finally, I reached a single conclusion.
—Yin and Yang cannot mix.
"Ashida! You, what did you come here for?! Ichinose-san clearly hates it!"
"That's not true! Right, Ichinose-chan?!"
"No...!"
"Gah?!"
Squeezing her eyes shut, Ichinose-san slipped away from Ashida and hid behind Sasaki-san. Seeing her genuine reaction—looking as if she’d been jumped by a common thug—Ashida was visibly shocked. Serves you right. Come back after you've dropped your extrovert level by about three stages.
"Your energy is way too high... Seriously, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, right. I heard about Sajocchi and the others from Aichi, and I thought I just had to come!"
"Had to come? Why?"
"Heheh."
She gave me a smirk.
Had I ever been provoked this much in my life? She was raining on my sentimental farewell with Sasaki-san. If it came to this, I’d grab her by the scruff of her neck and turn her over to the Cultural Festival Executive Committee... No, that wouldn't work. I could only see a future where Natsukawa and Ashida just ended up flirting.
"—You were Sasaki-san, right?"
"Eh, y-yes!"
Does a social butterfly truly have no blind spots? While I was stomping my feet at the unfairness of it all, Ashida regained her composure and turned toward Sasaki-san. She straightened her posture, bowed at a perfect right angle, and extended her right hand.
"When you enroll, please join the volleyball club...!"
"Eh...?!"
Now that’s just cheating.